By Horn Africa News
ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia has reaffirmed its determination to secure direct access to the Red Sea, particularly through Eritrea’s port of Assab, framing the issue as both a historical entitlement and a matter of national survival.
Major General Teshome Gemechu, Director General of International Relations and Military Cooperation at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Defense, made the remarks on Sunday, according to the Addis Standard.
“The Red Sea once belonged to us… Assab used to be part of our land,” Gen. Teshome declared, while openly questioning the legitimacy of Eritrea’s independence in 1993.
The general warned that Ethiopia’s major cities, including the capital Addis Ababa, could be vulnerable to missile attacks launched from the sea. He stressed what he described as the “strategic necessity” of establishing a military presence in the region to safeguard Ethiopia’s long-term security interests.
The comments revive long-standing disputes over Ethiopia’s quest for sea access — a geopolitical challenge dating back to the country’s loss of Eritrea following its independence referendum in the early 1990s.
Asmara, meanwhile, has reportedly begun preparing for possible conflict, heightening fears that the Horn of Africa’s fragile stability could once again be destabilized by renewed hostilities between the two historic rivals.
